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Definition of able seaman in English:

able seaman

noun

A rank of sailor in the Royal Navy above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

‘Even with ships covered by labour agreements, Parsons says an able seaman's contract includes over 100 hours of overtime per month, at less than a quarter of the wage a Canadian would make.’

‘I will not say his name, because the Minister knows that in 2000 I brought to his attention a case about an able seaman, who to this day I still believe was not looked after by the military.’

‘Mr Waterworth was an 18-year-old able seaman when he was depth-charged aboard HMS Strongbow at Penang, in the Strait of Malacca, off Malaya.’

‘Mr Couzens, an able seaman, was part of the first wave of boats which slipped out of harbour shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, part of the biggest naval force in history.’

‘Ten - among them an able seaman from Aberdeen - were captured and tortured.’

‘An able seaman on the Clyde earns about £13,000 while an able seaman in the Western Isles earns about £20,000.’

‘Mr Walton, who at the time of the tragedy was an able seaman, said: ‘We did not have anything to row with.’’

‘Mr Reynolds, an able seaman from 1944 to 1946 in corvettes and LST 3035, came from Adelaide to attend the reunion.’

‘I sailed into Auckland as an able seaman aboard the Australian Navy's flagship, HMAS ‘Australia’.’

‘And it was at Santa Cruz that death very nearly visited Challenger again: One of the boys fell from the rigging, a height of almost 40 feet into the sea, and but for the quick action of an able seaman he would surely have drowned.’

‘He was called to the Bar in 1958 after two years in the Royal Navy, where he was an able seaman, and a period as a factory inspector.’

‘Alongside them is Monkman, who as an able seaman aboard HMS Tyler helped safely escort convoys of troops across the English Channel.’

‘Nothing daunted, I signed up in August 2001 as an able seaman and historical adviser for a BBC TV re-enactment of the first voyage of Captain Cook from Cairns to Indonesia.’

‘Luckily, an able seaman next to me snatched the grenade and threw it into the sea.’

‘He served in the navy for five years, and was described by his senior naval commanders as a superior able seaman.’

‘In fifty-odd years as a deckhand, stock tender, able seaman, and now captain, I became increasingly alarmed by the growth in plastic debris I was seeing.’

‘It resulted from the National Government's proposal for cuts in naval pay, in response to Britain's financial crisis: 7 per cent for admirals, 13.6 per cent for unmarried able seamen.’

‘He said elements of mathematics and science would be combined in the displays, hopefully leading to more knowledgeable students and enthusiastic potential submariners, who nowadays needed to be skilled artisans, not just able seamen.’

‘Among them was 81-year-old Calpin, who served as an able seaman with the Royal Navy during the Normandy landings.’

‘Holbrook thereby won the Trade's first Victoria Cross, while the ship's company shared £3,500 prize bounty: Holbrook himself took £601 10s 2d, and each able seaman received £120 6s 1d.’